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CULLOWHEE – A survey conducted by Western Carolina University’s department of applied criminology indicates that, in spite of the lessons learned from the 2001 terror attacks and from Hurricane Katrina, Western North Carolina’s first responder agencies are not receiving the support necessary to effectively respond to emergencies.

Homeland security expert Daniel Ostergaard, senior policy fellow with WCU’s Institute for the Economy and the Future, said the study’s findings give reason for concern. The IEF, the university’s regional think tank and economic development arm, commissioned the study by Lisa T. Briggs and Karen A. Mason, assistant professors of applied criminology at WCU, and announced findings Monday, April 30.

The Institute for the Economy and the Future (IEF) at Western Carolina University recently received a National Assistance Technical Grant worth $362,060 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to innovate and disseminate a curriculum capable of enabling development practitioners to understand and apply the core concepts of regionalism and clustering required for effective regional development in the “Knowledge Economy”. 

The one-year project, which commenced Oct. 1, 2006, represents a tripartite collaboration between the IEF, the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and ACCRA – the Council for Community and Economic Research to support the “Regionalism and Clusters for Local Development” Project.

In a report released today, state homeland security and emergency management officials from across the United States express serious concerns about key aspects of domestic security, including communications, immigration, critical infrastructure, safety of schools, shipping and cargo transport, and funding allocations.  

“These results tell me that we have a way to go before our state officials are willing to say ‘mission accomplished,’” said Daniel Ostergaard, a senior policy fellow at WCU’s Institute for the Economy and the Future and a former executive director of the federal Homeland Security Advisory Council. “These dedicated public servants are not holding back their real concerns. They are telling it like it is. Strides must be taken to address components of national security that are still falling short of goals.”

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